Sunday alcohol sales based on money, not morals

The dreams of all Oxonians have finally come true: Sunday alcohol sales have been approved by both the Board of Aldermen and the state of Mississippi.

Sunday sales does not mean every Sunday right now, but it does mean that you can go and have a drink the Sunday after a big Grove day and most holidays when they fall on the Sabbath.

After years of pleading with the Board, they switched their decision seemingly overnight and approved the sales for one reason: money.

Since the beginning of this fiasco, we have been told repeatedly that alcohol was restricted because of religion or to keep Sundays quiet. Now, that’s just not true.

The days that have been listed as appropriate for sales are the days when they know little Oxford will be buzzing with people, and they will be able to make the most money possible during the 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. time constraint. They are the days after football games, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and holidays like New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day and the Fourth of July when they fall on Sundays.

We have no problem with the choice to sell alcohol on Sundays, and we would support its sale every Sunday of the year.

What we have a problem with is the hypocrisy behind the decision.

The Board is hiding behind its belief system as the reason for limited sales and as the reason why this has not been passed before.

Obviously, this is not true, or this decision would not have made it out of Board of Aldermen meetings.

Money became too irresistible, but no one wants to admit it. Why else would we only choose days that have the potential to be profitable?

The simple truth is that many different organizations like to hide behind religion. It is not wrong to base important personal decisions on beliefs and faith. However, it is wrong to use religion as a cop out.

No matter the belief – Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism – hypocritical convictions have been thrown at each.

The Board using religion as a crutch until the money became too good to pass up and still spouting its faith talk is precisely the hypocritical behavior that is so much of the time the glass through which society perceives believers.

If you’re going to have convictions, stick to them and be honest with us. If you’re going to give up on them for the monetary gain presented by changing your beliefs, the belief probably wasn’t very concrete to start with.